Together Again
by Vickysg1
Summary: She sat there, listening to Timmy playing on the piano...


Title: Together again  
Author: Vicky  
Category: angst, friendship  
Summary: She sat there, listening to Timmy playing on the piano...  
Season/Sequel: season 2, missing-scene for _Bloodlines_  
Rating: G  
Disclaimer: I own neither the show nor the characters. I don't earn any money; I just do it for fun.  
Author's Note: This is a missing-scene for _Bloodlines_, the season 2 finale, what I think could have happened. Many, many thanks to Jaclyn, my fantastic beta!

* * *

She sat there, listening to Timmy playing on the piano. Timmy, not Angelo, not yet.

Tears were running down her cheeks, and while usually, she wouldn't want anyone to see her like this, today was different; she was mourning. She was mourning for her friend, who had given up on being him again to save a boy. She was mourning for the man she had known for most of her life and who might be her twin brother. She was mourning because he was dying. But he wasn't dying physically. His mind was dying, taken away once again.

That wouldn't have to happen if she hadn't let that vial fall. Or if she hadn't interrupted Jarod in the first place. If the vial that was destined to Davy hadn't broken, there would have been no need for Timmy to give up his last treatment.

Timmy was reverting back to Angelo, and she was the one responsible for that. He would never be the person he was before Raines messed up with his brain again because of her.

Tears continued to fall down her cheeks, Timmy continued to play the piano, as Jarod held Davy close. She shouldn't be here. It wasn't her place to be. She should leave this house, leave her childhood friends, and go back to the Centre. No one had to know that she was here at all. Maybe she could just forget about it too. Once Timmy was Angelo again, he would be with Jarod, as safe as possible and away from the Centre, and from her.

She didn't know yet if he was her brother, but she could give him that one gift at least: the freedom that she would never have. And maybe one day, Jarod could find another cure, and he could be Timmy again.

But she couldn't leave. As much as she knew she had to, she didn't want to. She wanted to be there for Timmy while she could still be. And she wanted to be there for Angelo when he would need her. She knew that Jarod would never let their friend down, but for once, she wanted to be able to help someone she cared about.

"Miss Parker?" Jarod's soft voice jolted her from her thoughts.

She turned her head to see him crouched beside her chair. His eyes held this worried look she had sometimes seen on his face. It had been directed at her many times in the past, when they were kids, but less often since she had started chasing him.

"Davy?" she found herself asking; she needed to be sure that Timmy's sacrifice would be for the better.

"He's sleeping. I don't think we'll see any changes until the morning." He paused, as if trying to decide if he should speak his mind.

"What is it?" she asked, losing patience after more than a minute of silence between them.

"You shouldn't blame yourself," he just said, and she instantly knew what he meant.

"Who says I'm blaming myself?" She asked, deciding that attacking was the best way to defend herself. "Maybe you should have prepared more serotonin. Maybe you should have been quicker and not let it break on the floor. Maybe..."

She was interrupted by Jarod's hand on her cheek, his thumb erasing the fresh traces of tears. His other hand came to cup her other cheek, and he forced her to look at him. His eyes found hers, and she sighed.

"Stop blaming yourself," he repeated slowly, but she still wouldn't have it.

"Don't tell me what I can do or not, Jarod. You have no right to do that."

"Someone must do it for you if you don't, Parker."

"Shut up, Jarod," she spat angrily, getting up; it was easier to be angry at him than to think about what she had done. "I'm sick and tired of you trying to help me when I don't want your help. Go help the weak and oppressed, I'm neither. I'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself."

"Then why don't you do it? What are you still doing at the Centre?"

"Stop it!"

Neither of them had noticed that Timmy had stopped playing until he started to speak. Stunned, they turned towards him, and saw him standing there, a sad look on his face.

"I don't like it when you fight. You can't fight. You are friends," he said taking Parker's hand and placing it on top of Jarod's.

"That was a long time ago," Parker said, taking her hand off Jarod's. "We are nothing. Nothing but huntress and prey."

She turned away from them and opened the door. She wouldn't leave though; she couldn't leave Angelo when there was still some of Timmy left. She just needed some fresh air, away from them, away from Jarod. Timmy was right; they had been friends, up until the moment she left for boarding school. But now, it was over. It was over the moment her father had made the choice for her that it would be better to get away for a while.

Stepping onto the porch, she went to sit on the small bench on her left. She didn't know how long she was left alone, until she heard someone come out of the house and take a seat beside her. She didn't need to turn her head to know who it was, though.

"My parents were staying here whenever they came to NuGenesis. I want to think they used to sit here, watching the sunset." He paused, and Parker wondered for a moment if she should just stand and leave. "I thought that by staying here, I could maybe find a clue to where they are, who they are, but there's nothing."

"And you're telling me this because...?" she asked.

"No reason." A pause; she still didn't know what he was doing here beside her. "How's Fenigor?"

"No idea. I don't know if he's dead or still alive. They don't tell me anything about that."

"But you didn't ask either."

"Why would I ask when I know there would be no answer?" It was her time to pause. She was pondering whether or not she should tell him what was on her mind. In the end, she spoke in a small voice. "What about Angelo? I mean Timmy?"

"Without his last dose, he's going to revert back to Angelo," he said what she already knew, and she sighed, slightly exasperated. "He won't ever be Timmy again."

"Are you sure?" she found herself asking, hoping that for once the Pretender was mistaken.

He didn't answer, and when she turned to look at him, she found him looking at her, a sad look on his face. She didn't need him to talk anymore, she knew the answer. It had been his second chance, and there wouldn't be a third.

"What can we do?" she asked then, willing to work with Jarod this one time.

"The only thing we can do is to be there for him for the remaining time. I know it sounds like he is dying..."

"But he is."

"Yeah..."

"I can't even begin to understand why Raines did this to him. I know he is a monster, but what he did..."

"Timmy, Angelo, is a red file. He could have been a Pretender. I can only guess that his first results weren't as good as some others..."

"You did set the bar pretty high," she interrupted him, remembering the DSA she had seen of his first day at the Centre.

"Believe me, if I had known at the time what it would earn me..."

He stopped there, but she knew what he was saying. When he was a child, at the Centre, he had only wanted to make Sydney proud of him. It was only years later that he had found out what he had done. And since then, he had tried to even the score by helping people throughout the country.

"I'm a red file. They could have trained me as a Pretender, too..."

"But you're the chairman's daughter. They couldn't do anything to you. Not without his permission."

"Yeah, what little good it did me. They did train me. Maybe not as a Pretender, but they trained me nevertheless."

"Yeah..."

Silence fell upon them. It was a comfortable silence, like the ones they were used to during their childhood. Sometimes, they just spent time together, without saying a single word. Just some time away from the world they were living in. And tonight, after many years spent apart, now that they weren't even friends anymore, they were doing it again.

As if he sensed that they were toeing a fine line, Jarod stood up suddenly.

"I should go see how Davy is doing."

She nodded, but he didn't see it; he was already inside.

She wasn't left alone for long, though. A few seconds after Jarod left her, the piano fell silent inside, and Angelo came out to sit beside her. She smiled at him, but stayed silent. Everything had been said, for the moment. And she didn't trust her voice anymore tonight, when it came to him. It didn't seem to bother him; he didn't say anything either. He just sat closer to her, and rested his head against her shoulder.

At any other time, she would have pushed him away, but tonight, it was different. Tonight, she was with her childhood friend, away from the Centre's clutches. Whatever happened here, they wouldn't know, for once.

As she sat here, in the cool night air, not talking, she felt the day finally taking its toll on her. She felt her eyes close, and she didn't fight her tiredness. She let herself go, shutting her mind down. Any other time, she would have worried that Jarod would take advantage of her sleeping to escape, but she knew that it wouldn't be the case, tonight. Tonight there was Davy, and Angelo and he wouldn't leave them. Not when he knew they were still needing him.

From the living-room, Jarod looked through the window, and watched his two childhood friends resting on the bench. His mind reminded him of past times, when they were still children, unaware of what the Centre was really doing, just making the most of what little time they have together.

His heart, though, was crying, wishing that it was his parents sitting there, on this bench.

Fini.


End file.
